What do I mean when I say we can learn to move more easily?

Movement is easy when all muscles are at our disposal. And when all muscles contribute their proportional share to a movement.

As life progresses, tensions creep in. Many people have a stiff neck, lower back pain, inability to bend over easily, restrictions in the shoulder and hip joints, carpal tunnel syndrome and the chest or ribs are stiff, which leads to restricted breathing and oxygen absorption.

How does this happen?

Every time we are startled or afraid, our muscles contract. This is a natural protective function of the body. The small muscles between the ribs in particular contract to protect our organs. When the danger is over and the fear wears off, the muscles should actually let go again. Depending on how often negative events repeat themselves or how long-lasting they are, the muscles remain tense longer and more frequently throughout our lives until this tension becomes our new normal.

Nobody does this consciously or on purpose.

And that's why it's difficult to simply relax again to get rid of the stiff neck and the pain.

Of course, the way we live and what we do also has a big influence. We sit too much, walk too little, eat too much, etc. I don't think I need to go into that anymore. This has been known for a long time.

Command 0 or 1

To move we need our muscles. These can either tense up or not. The commands for this come from our brain and our nervous system. The more optimally these commands are given and carried out, the easier the movement is.

Chronic tension

If many of our muscles are chronically tense, they are only available to us in a limited form. A muscle that is already constantly holding on no longer moves.

As a result, the remaining muscles have to take on tasks that they were not designed for. This leads to (even more) pain.

Examples are the carpal tunnel syndrome or pain in the hands of people who do computer work or piano players:

Ideally, the hand is connected to the shoulder and back via the arm. This means that when we move our hand and arm, our back also does its share of the work. If your chest is stiff, your back can no longer do its part. When the neck is stiff, shoulder movement is also limited. In the end, the small muscles of the hand have to do work that is far too heavy for them, which in turn leads to pain. So the “problem” doesn’t come from the hand but from the back.

What is the solution?

In my NeuroMovement lessons, my students learn step by step, slowly and with utmost attention, to let go of all the “tension”. This expression is not correct. It is the brain that gives the command to hold. This must be reprogrammed to let go when at rest so that holding can happen again actively and voluntarily. So it's neither about stretching nor about mobilization. It's about learning to move again the way we could as small children.

Brain plasticity

Thanks to the plasticity of our brain, this relearning of movement is possible at any age.

Freedom

The more we learn to release muscles that aren't supposed to hold, the more freedom of movement we get. Starting from the center of our body, step by step the chest and ribs become more mobile, breathing becomes freer, we have more oxygen, which also has a positive effect on sleep and memory. The spine becomes more flexible, we can turn our head further in all directions, which means we can see more and stumble less. Shoulders and hip joints become freer, which means we can move our arms and legs more freely. And we need less and less strength for everyday movements, such as running, standing, sitting, cleaning, cooking, gardening, etc. This means that we have a lot of energy left over for additional movements that we enjoy. Hiking, dancing, crafts, playing music, etc.

Vitality

So when our everyday lives become easier, we experience a whole new vitality and joy of life. We get back the childlike freedom and carefreeness of being able to do what we enjoy.

Abundance

Easy movement means much more than the fact that we can “just” move easily. It means that we can live a joyful, pain-free and fulfilling life.

Move through live with joy and ease.